Starting fresh

January 3^rd and our Christmas decorations are down and packed away, the carpets and floors are newly vacuumed, and our kitchen chalkboard is proudly displaying the year “2013” in place of the Christmas countdown gingerbread man.

I’ve found that the older I get, the earlier I want to decorate for Christmas, but the quicker I want it all back to normal once the day has come and gone.  It’s a combination of the post-holiday blues coupled with the desire to start the New Year off in a clean, de-cluttered, organized, and calm house.

A nothing is quite as calming (at least to me) as a brand new, nearly unused calendar.

I hunted for this baby for weeks.  I wanted one exactly like the one I had last year, because I had spent a full twelve months getting used to that style.  

But alas, like running shoes and cars, calendar manufacturers never make the same model twice.  So I picked up one as close as I could to it and began a quest to jerry-rig the part that I liked best about my old calendar—the to-do list:

My new calendar doesn’t have this clever side-bar and I was a bit afraid of the shambles my life would become if I didn’t have my weekly list of must-dos.  All kidding aside though, I had gotten so used to organizing my week (and my head) this way that I knew I had better figure out a way to duplicate it.  And then, wouldn’t you know it, my girl Martha was right there for me when I needed her most:

Large post-it notepads from Martha Stewart.  She always knows best.

It’s only been a week, but I think I actually like this floating to-do list better.  Then, if there is anything I don’t finish that week (not that that ever happens), I can just move the entire list over to the next week.

2012 - well-loved, but time to move on

2013 - so much potential!

As silly as it sounds, that last picture makes me want to go aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!  And now, it makes me want to go tackle some of those unchecked items off of my to-do list.

Happy Thursday, everyone!